1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet-processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the spread of digital cameras, the spread of inkjet-type printers and the like, demand for inkjet paper has risen. Hence, increases in efficiency of a series of operations, from cutting and chopping of inkjet paper to packing (bagging up predetermined numbers of sheets), are sought after.
Sheets of inkjet paper are formed by cutting sheets, which have been drawn out from an original web (for example, an original material in the form of a roll), to a width matching a width dimension of the sheets, and chopping to a length matching a length dimension of the sheets. These sheets are then stacked and packed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JPA) No. 10-58384 discloses a sheet-processing process in which large sheets, which are produced by chopping a long sheet, are piled up, sheaves of sheets with a predetermined size are produced by cutting a sheaf of these large sheets, and these sheet sheaves are bagged up.
However, operations to move the sheaf of large sheets before steps of cutting and chopping are rather troublesome, and moreover, there are problems such as equipment becoming larger in accordance with the size of the large sheets, and the like.
As another example, JP-A No. 5-39140 discloses a sheet sheaf transport apparatus which includes gripping means, at which a gripping pawl is attached, for gripping, lifting and transporting an end portion of a sheaf of sheets which have been placed on a transport table. In this apparatus, in order to prevent a lowermost sheet from sticking to the conveyance table, air is fed between that sheet and an upper face of the transport table.
However, transporting sheaves of sheets, whose end portions are susceptible to becoming uneven, with the gripping pawl is rather difficult. Moreover, there is room for improvement in the area of transport efficiency.